The spoken word “Standing In Between” was performed by Khamal Iwuanyanwu, Sarina Morales, and Vanessa Tahay. In this impactful piece, the three artists express the complicated desire of wanting to return to a home that they are no longer accepted in. It showcases the complicated emotions that immigrants and refugees face when they are not welcome in either place and the anti-refugee insults that plague their lives in their new countries. In one powerful line they state, “they blame us for taking the jobs that no one wants, for risking our lives to make theirs more convenient”. The spoken word depicts all the risks that were taken to leave their homes yet how in their hearts they will never belong in their new country.
I believe this is an important piece as it illustrates the nuances and complexities that arise from migration processes. In many instances, the story of migration is presented in a singular narrative which erases the many dimensions of the experience. This spoken word does an excellent job at showing how underneath the gratitude and relief, there is a longing for home and for their cultural roots. I especially think the parts recreating bigoted slurs are powerful. When “dirty immigrants” is shouted, the reply is “we did not want to leave”. I think this disrupts common perceptions that refugees and asylum seekers are purely attempting to take advantage of the system.
The ability of this piece to disrupt common narratives depicting a single story relates back to a book we read earlier in the semester titled Ru by Kim Thuy. The novel showcased numerous peoples’ experiences and did a great job at illustrating the complexities that surround every decision.
This relates to transnational feminism as it depicts how it is necessary to center the voices of those impacted when attempting to work across difference. As this spoken word clearly shows, the true emotions and feelings of refugees and asylum seekers are complex and multi-dimensional. The push factors that drive migration are numerous and cannot usually be linked exclusively to one aspect. When western feminists are supporting these movements, it is critical to truly listen to avoid reproducing harmful rhetoric’s.
Keywords: refugees, asylum seeker, migration
Author: A1
I'm glad to see a spoken word piece included in this blog project, as I believe spoken word pieces are an extremely powerful and emotional medium. This one is no exception. Having the piece performed by three artists of different backgrounds helps to communicate that while migrants and children of migrants have a diverse set of experiences, there are commonalities in how their status as "immigrant" is constructed and applied, and how this may affect them. I appreciate your observation of how the video disrupts the single story narrative, which in turn relates to other course content. Having this disruption helps remind feminists who want to think transnationally that there are many voices that must be listened to, rather th…